Ventura County’s retail centers worked hard preparing for the Black Friday rush, which kicks off one of the year’s busiest shopping weekends.

Shopping malls, outlets and individual stores are expected to be packed throughout the weekend as residents scramble to find the best deals on clothing, electronics and a swath of other products that are heavily discounted during the Black Friday festivities. Retailers throughout the county are expecting a major turnout at many locations packed throughout the night.

“The weekend of Black Friday is the busiest time of the year for us, only matched by the weekend before Christmas,” said Ilmar Kalviste, property manager for Pacific View mall in Ventura. “We’re expecting another strong holiday season and retail industries are reporting that sales will increase by 3 or 4 percent from 2016.”

While the county’s brick-and-mortar stores are predicting strong numbers this weekend, the competition is becoming increasingly fierce for retailers.

Online shopping has exploded in recent years and online businesses aggressively market themselves during busy shopping periods such as Black Friday. The popularity of online shopping resulted in Cyber Monday, which, along with Small Business Saturday, has gradually turned Black Friday experience into a multi-day event.

Many retailers take things a step further by offering enticing details throughout the week of Thanksgiving or even the entire month of November.

Some people, such as Oxnard resident Eviana Soto, prefer shopping online during the holiday season because of the convenience.

“I think online shopping is a lot better because there isn’t such a rush and there are better deals,” said Soto, 21. “The more that you spend, the more free shipping you get, and that can add up. If you’re going to shop in person, you might have to camp out.”

That sentiment isn’t uncommon, but it is beginning to change how businesses market themselves for busy shopping periods such as Black Friday. Beyond competing with one another for customers, brick-and-mortar stores must contend with popular online shopping websites such as Amazon.

The competition among businesses is ultimately beneficial for Black Friday shoppers, said Sara Skirboll, a shopping and trends expert at RetailMeNot, an online company that helps customers save money with coupons. Skirboll noted that businesses are going all-out to draw in customers for Black Friday, and both brick-and-mortar stores and online shopping venues are working to appeal to their customer bases.

“Physical stores are offering their customers more deals, promotions and things like free gift wrapping, which is a major incentive,” Skirboll said. “Online retailers offer things like free and next-day shipping, while free gifts and samples are becoming popular with online beauty retailers. People are starting to have smarter shopping attitudes and behaviors, and businesses are investing more to draw customers in.”

No matter the shopping destination, Black Friday 2017 is expected to be a banner year for businesses.

A recent survey released by the National Retail Federation, a trade association that tracks retail sales, reported that 164 million Americans—approximately 69 percent of the nation’s population — were planning or considering to shop during Thanksgiving weekend.

Black Friday will be the busiest shopping period, with 70 percent of customers planning to shop that day, followed by Cyber Monday, with 48 percent, according to the report. Forty-three percent of customers planned to shop Saturday many of whom will do so specifically to support Small Business Saturday.

People plan to spend an average of $967.13 on holiday gifts this year, up 3.4 percent from a year ago, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual holiday survey.

Regardless of the day, it’s likely that a significant number of customers will shop both online and in person, said Ana Serafin-Smith, senior director of media relations for the National Retail Federation. She noted that customers enjoy the unique benefits offered by both physical and online retailers and often take advantage of both kinds of retail experiences.

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“When parents need their kids’ opinions on clothing, they will go to department stores because they can see the clothes in person,” Serafin-Smith said. “On the other hand, parents don’t want their kids to see gifts they might be buying for the holidays, and in that case, they might shop online. Consumers are increasingly taking advantage of online shopping but shopping in physical stores is still a strong part of family tradition for many.”

While some residents would rather shop either online or in person, for others, such as Oxnard resident Crystal Arroyo, it’s simply a matter of where the best deals are.

“I prefer shopping both online and in-person, they’re just the same,” said Arroyo, 22. “You just have to find the best value.”

For businesses that have both online and physical presences, appealing to all kinds of shoppers is important. It’s common for shoppers to split their time between physical retailers and online stores, according to Best Buy spokesperson Boua Xiong. Xiong noted that companies such as Best Buy try to appeal shoppers on both ends.

“We have seen growth in our online shopping, but we know that our customers like to shop online and in-store, Xiong said in an interview. “Sometimes you need to make sure that something is the right product for you and your home, so shopping in person helps. For those that are tech-savvy, they might prefer to shop online, but we are seeing that people like to shop in multiple channels.”